Elizabeth Pulie: #117 (Survey)

‘#117 (Survey)’ is Australian artist Elizabeth Pulie’s first survey exhibition, mapping 30 years of practice. The exhibition includes works from Pulie’s distinct, self-assigned conceptual projects: Decorative Paintings (1988–99), Relational Art (2002–06) and End of Art (2012–ongoing), alongside ancillary Interim Works (1997–2012). Arranged according to these projects, the exhibition abides by the frameworks set by Pulie in her ever-building thesis on art and, in so doing, illustrates her philosophical approach to practice. The survey itself is assigned a number within the End of Art project, interpreted by Pulie as a collaborative work between artist and curator, and an opportunity to examine the function of exhibition-making.

Since 1988, Pulie has pursued a definition of art through a conceptual and discursive practice that interrogates the role of the artist, gallery, and artwork. To date, Pulie has produced paintings, drawings, installations, collages, videos, and events, and has published magazines, interviews, and essays that address the social and political dimensions of art in a context where everything has the potential to be art. Pulie tests perceived problems or limits for art, including its commodification, decorative uses, and extreme openness to form. Her work also considers the amalgamation of art and life, hypothesising the endpoint of art in the contemporary context.

‘#117 (Survey)’ also premieres a new video project by Pulie commissioned by the UNSW Galleries Commissioners Circle. #118 (Heaven in Love) 2021 documents Pulie’s movement through the Calligraphy Yoga sequence ‘Heaven in Love’, which she has practised since 2014. The work combines her parallel practices of yoga and art, and functions as a musing on what it means to be a contemporary artist and make contemporary art. 

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Curated by James Gatt

ESSAY EXHIBITION LABELS 

 

 

 

 

 

Reader
A comprehensive reader compiled by Elizabeth Pulie and James Gatt brings together texts produced or co-produced by the artist since 2001 when Pulie began writing as part of her practice. The texts include reviews, interviews, and essays previously published for exhibitions, conferences, and art magazines, including Pulie’s self-published Lives of the Artists (2002–05). The reader forms a crucial part of the exhibition, addressing the social and discursive dimensions of Pulie’s practice from her Relational Art and End of Art projects that the survey cannot otherwise present. Available at UNSW Galleries and online for $10.00. 

Website
Developed with the support of the UNSW Galleries Commissioners Circle, this online archive provides a comprehensive overview of Elizabeth Pulie’s practice, cataloguing her conceptual projects and writings since 1988. www.elizabethpulie.com

Public Program

Exhibition Tour
1.00pm Sun 23 Jan, 20 Mar & 10 Apr 2022 | UNSW Galleries
Join James Gatt for an intimate walkthrough of the exhibition and hear about key works and significant developments in Elizabeth Pulie’s practice

Crisis of the Contemporary
3.00pm Sat 12 Feb 2022 | Register to attend at UNSW Galleries, or join online
Join Elizabeth Pulie and James Gatt for a discussion on the challenges of approaching a definition of art in a post-conceptual context, and the paradoxes inherent in making contemporary art. The talk draws on ideas from Pulie’s essays since 2014, which tackle the philosophical dilemmas of contemporary art’s radical openness to form, and its function as a perceived endpoint of modernism.

Waves of Thought – Conceptual to Postconceptual Practice
3.00pm Sat 26 Feb 2022 | UNSW Galleries and online
Join Elizabeth Pulie, James Gatt and conceptual artist and cultural activist Ian Milliss for a discussion on the role of art and artists in society, and map an intergenerational lineage of conceptual art in Australia. Milliss will also revive Pulie’s magazine Lives of the Artist during the exhibition, editing the publication’s 11th issue.

Tile and Banner Image: Elizabeth Pulie, ‘Decorated Wall (One hundred and twenty-five to One hundred and forty-nine)’ 1995. Acrylic on canvas. Collection: Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Purchased with the assistance of Dr Edward Jackson AM and Mrs Cynthia Jackson AM, 1996. Image courtesy of the artist and Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
Installation Images: Installation view, 'Elizabeth Pulie: #117 (Survey)', UNSW Galleries, Sydney, 2022. Photography: Jacquie Manning.